Optimizing Plant Water Use Efficiency for a Sustainable Environment

Irrigation is becoming an activity of precision, where combining information collected from various sources is necessary to optimally manage resources. New management strategies, such as big data techniques, sensors, artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and new technologies in general, are becoming more relevant every day. As such, modeling techniques, both at the water distribution network and the farm levels, will be essential to gather information from various sources and offer useful recommendations for decision-making processes. In this book, 10 high quality papers were selected that cover a wide range of issues that are relevant to the different aspects related to irrigation management: water source and distribution network, plot irrigation systems, and crop water management.

Precision irrigation is becoming a crucial management approach for environmentally and economically sustainable fruit tree production. The vast majority of fruit crops need irrigation supply as rainfall does not match crop water requirements (Stöckle et al., 2011; Snyder, 2017). In most cases of fruit crops cultivated in dry areas, rainfed agriculture is not sustainable and deficit irrigation (DI) is a reasonable strategy to improve water use efficiency. Fereres and Soriano (2007) highlighted the benefits of regulated DI as a strategy to reduce agricultural water use. The main purpose of regulated DI is to reduce irrigation at specific developmental stages of the crop with no or limited effects on yield. The use of DI in different phenological stages of fruit crops started in the 1980s by Chalmers et al. (1981, 1986).

Introduction: The following Standards for Landscape Irrigation Systems replace the previous publication of March 1997. They have been developed by the Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia to reflect the current minimum Standards for the industry and to provide guidance to its members as a benchmark for their performance. The principles embodied in these Standards apply to all landscape irrigation systems but the special circumstances of some owners or installations may require the development of more customized specifications related to the project. The use of these Standards is intended to encourage efficient and responsible water management and result in irrigation systems that are economical, practical, and sustainable. Owners, designers, and installers of these systems are responsible for the use of a precious and finite resource to maintain healthy and functional landscapes. Accepted industry practice reflects these goals. The Irrigation Industry Association of British Columbia accepts no liability arising from the use of these Standards in contractual relationships between parties to an irrigation project.